People Who Voted for Trump in 2016 Explain Why They Won't Be Voting For Him Again In 2020

The presidency of Donald Trump has been rife with scandal from the moment it started. Even as the nation grapples with the Covid-19 epidemic, it's safe to say that the election is still very much a tossup. Between continued interference from adversaries abroad, allegations that the president colluded with foreign powers to undermine his political opponents, and a highly criticized response to a public health crisis that, as of this writing, has left more than 160,000 Americans dead, 2020 has been a hell of a year.
It's intriguing to note that polls indicate the president's approval rating among his once rock-solid base has been slipping in recent months amid his pandemic response. Though opinions of Trump remain largely split along party lines, it's important to hear from people who say they don't intend to vote for him after going to bat for him the first time.
After Redditor PIG3 asked the online community, "If you voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but won't in 2020, what changed your mind?" people gave rather candid and enlightening responses.
"At the time of the 2016 election..."
I was a Republican by upbringing. I watched no other news but Fox News via my parents until I left for college. Once I gained my independence living across the country for college, I started to develop my own views. I started to get my news from more reputable sources like the AP. I started to realize that many of the views I picked up from watching Fox all the time were very one-sided and often didn't result from an understanding of the full picture, and it definitely took a while but once I started looking at multiple sources, the biased wording common in Fox articles is easy to spot and easy to avoid no matter the source (both right- and left-wing bias, I should add).
At the time of the 2016 election, I was on the fence. Unfortunately I still held on to the last shred of "the Republicans are the good guys, therefore I must vote for them and also the Clintons are power hungry tyrants" that I had left over from my childhood. I regret that vote, but that election night marked the last time for at least the foreseeable future that I vote Republican. I'm currently a registered Democrat though I consider myself a fairly moderate liberal, and I find this position much better suits what I actually believe (not just what I'm told I believe like when I was a kid) and what I find important in how society is governed.
"I feel like I was flippant..."
I feel like I was flippant in 2016 - I'm in a blue state that doesn't split electoral votes so I felt like I could do it and it didn't matter.
Since then, I've just grown as a person. I've gotten married, watched my husband get diagnosed with a disease that would bankrupt us if I didn't have a government job and it changed how I saw people. No one should have to decide to go bankrupt to get treatment they need to survive. I'm now willing to pay a little more so no one has to suffer like we were so fortunate not to. I've also taken multiple diversity and equity trainings since 2016 that have helped me understand concepts like how saying all lives matter dismisses the point that some lives aren't being treated like they matter.
Just personal growth and this sense of not wanting anyone to suffer.
"I never did my own research..."
Grew up in middle of nowhere conservative town. Took what my parents and others said as fact and adopted their political views. I never did my own research on politics. Since then I've met amazing people who've helped me see things from a different perspective. Now I see the issues with what I believed before. Happy to say that I do much more research and don't just go in the voting booth blind. I'm now pretty far from conservative
"I was wrong."
I was disappointed with a few things that he did here and there but I wasn't that aware of the scope of some things so it didn't seem so bad. Then Covid happened. He didn't wear a mask until recently and suddenly many of his supporters became anti maskers. Instead of leading by wearing a mask and encouraging people to wear a mask, he continued to not want anyone to wear a mask at events. Then he started encouraging bad treatment of protesters. I literally went from a lifelong republican to a Democrat within months. It kinda freaks me out that I changed so quickly but I realized that they've been using brute force to do what you think is right despite what's morally right or what the country wants is just plain wrong. I am less worried about my taxes going up a little if it means preventing a child dying from malnutrition. I am less concerned about making sure there's no welfare fraud if it helps people that truly need it.
Btw I was always socially liberal, I just felt like most social issues didn't belong in politics. I've always wanted prison reform, equal rights for everyone but I'm realizing most Republican politicians do not want those things.
I feel like my eyes have been opened and I literally used to think liberals were oblivious to taxes going up. I was wrong.
"I was so excited..."
My political opinions very much lean towards the idea that the government should exist to help, protect, and serve the people, not control them. I felt, and still feel like, that is the opposite of how our government runs. 4 years ago I was a month past 18 and excited to finally have a vote! I can do something affect change! I can help the world be a better place! I was full of cynicism and hatred for the way the world worked, I wanted to do anything to change it. At 18 years old and prepared with a southern public education and the words of my Republican father I was so sure that electing a business man and not a politician would help. I completely bought into the Trump campaign, I believed everything he said. I was young and dumb and blinded by my anger at the world and he was going to fix it. So I went with my dad and voted for my first time with no doubt in my mind that I made the right choice, I got my sticker, I took my selfie, and I was proud.
Then he won! I was so excited, something was finally going to change! So I waited, and I watched, and had things started to happen, and like everyone around me I made excuses, "we can't expect him to fix everything in one day" and "that stuff is all fake, someone made it up to make him look bad." Then bad things kept happening, and more information came to light, and they kept making excuses for all of it.
Then I got busy, I had a kid, I started my career, I was busy, and I didn't have time to pay attention to the news or politics, I have a baby for godsakes that's enough to worry about!
Then life calmed down and I started having time to pay attention to the world around me and suddenly we were years into his presidency and nothing had changed. The world was not a better place, the things everyone was afraid of that I laughed off as garbage or impossible had happened. The things I made excuses for never stopped. Then I kept paying attention, and things kept getting worse and I had to accept the fact that I was wrong, I made a horrible horrible mistake, and it had hurt a lot of people, but those people were still abstract in my mind, no one I knew had been directly affected by these things he had done yet, not in a major way.
Then things kept getting worse, and the pandemic started, and the choices he made started putting millions of people in danger, and a lot of those people were people in my life every day, my mom is extremely high risk, my boyfriend had to get tested, my kids are at risk, and the feeling got worse. I was put in the position to understand just how bad things he's done have hurt people.
I regret voting for him, I regret that it took me having to experience the negative effects first hand to fully understand how badly I messed up. I wish I could take it back every time I am reminded Trump was elected in part because of me. I will not vote for him in 2020, I don't know who I will vote for yet, but I'm going to make sure I'm absolutely as educated on all the candidates as I can be, and I'm going to try again, I'm going to make a choice I am proud of and hope like hell I'm right this time. In the meantime I have spent as much time as I can learning about all the things I thought were garbage in the past, and doing my very best to tell everyone I possibly can that they need to listen.
"I am not proud to live in this country..."
I'll be voting for Biden after voting for Trump in 2016.
His politicalization of a pandemic and poor response to it are the main reason for the change. I also strongly dislike the way he deals with Russia and the cronyism amongst his cabinet.
I didn't agree with everything George Bush or Obama did it stood for, but I believed they were trying to improve the country in the best way they saw how. Trump seems to be only selfishly motivated and has made a mockery of our nations highest elected office.
I am not proud to live in this country as long as he is at its helm. I look forward to November 3rd.
It took me a while to figure it out, but that's not the swamp he was talking about. When he talks about the swamp he isn't talking about the various government-industrial complexes. The times when you have companies writing the regulations that govern them, or they hire executives from said companies to govern them, that's A-OK with Trump.
What Trump cannot stand is the civil service. The unelected bureaucrat who spends fifty years mastering one tiny arcane element of government regulation and shapes how that regulation is applied is the thing that gets Trump frothing at the mouth. It's a power thing. The folks that enforce building codes and labor regulations have always compelled him to do stuff even when he doesn't want to, and he hates that.
So, the gutting of our diplomatic corps, the systemic attack on the Department of Justice, the systemic defunding of the post office and veterans and affairs are Trump draining the swamp. The "deep state" that frustrates the initiatives of a new government are professional government employees who have far more control over how things go down than the man in charge because they're the ones actually doing the work. A lot of people looked at that and said "yeah, f*** the military-industrial complex" but Trump doesn't care about that. He cares that the EPA and FBI were mean to him by not doing impossible or utterly nonsensical things because he wants that.
The swamp, the deep state, and all that "cleaning up" never had anything to do with bankers of prisons or arms manufacturers. He has always been contemptuous of formal power structures. Trump is the center of his own universe, anything that doesn't immediately bend to his arbitrary whims is something to be destroyed.
"I moved out of my parents' house..."
I moved out of my parents' house, experienced college, people from many backgrounds, and am in a career where I know what a good leader looks like, and he is most certainly not that.
"I dropped out of that school..."
My story is a lot like other people's here. I grew up in a small "Christian" town where everyone was conservative or quiet and climate change was a hoax the climate scientists told us so there would be an economic need for them. I was taught basically that the government is out to get you and so we must have as small a government as possible. Had I done any research on Trump I might have known that wasn't even his goal. But anyways, I was 18 and had gone to the big city for school where there were maybe 5 conservatives. I felt like the world was going crazy and for some arrogant reason, I thought I was seeing what no one else was. I voted for Trump without a second thought.
Fast forward a year. I dropped out of that school and moved back to my hometown because I felt like I couldn't handle being around "liberals" for three more years. I started going to community college where I took a macroeconomics class and learned about economic policies from something other than a YouTube video. Once it became clear that trickle down economics doesn't work, I started to wonder what else Democrats could be right about. That ultimately led me to becoming the BLM marching, Bernie Sanders campaign donating, climate change believing progressive outlier that I am.
"I was 21..."
I was 21 and was tired of nothing but career politician after career politician becoming President. I truly believed that if Trump, someone without political experience, could become President, it would open the door for us to be more accepting of non-career politicians becoming President.
I always believed that anyone could be President, and I always felt that someone further from the time-wasting BS that normally clogs politics would be more representative of the common American citizen.
How tf I thought CHEETO CHEETO BUNKER BOY was representative of the American people, idk. But now I realize that it's people like AOC who can truly understand what it's like to be a normal person and can still exist in the political landscape. She's my new hero.
"I'm trying my best..."
Ignorance and religious pressure were the reasons I voted for him. The only news outlet I really paid attention to was Fox, and my church made it about heaven and hell basically. Voting for Hillary was tantamount to killing a baby with your bare hands. I didnt like him, but I didnt know it was THAT bad. A few months post election I caught wind of a rumor that he had an assault allegation. I wasnt aware of this, and I did some digging. Also, within a year and a half most of my ideological views changed drastically as I deconverted, and I started looking at more sources for news and information. Suddenly I realized that I had been the product of very concerted propaganda efforts by right wing cable news, and those who take it as gospel.
I educated myself, and ever since I have been deeply involved with keeping up on what goes on in our politics. I watch hearings, read source documents, follow Trump on Twitter, and I vet my information as much as possible. I actively speak out against Trump and similar politicians, and I am active in my community fighting against what they stand for.
I'm trying my best to pay penance for my choice made in ignorance because when it comes to these decisions, one cannot afford to be ignorant.
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Being horny can lead to some questionable decision-making.
Something happens to the brain when blood is flowing to other regions of the body.
They should discuss this in health class.
It's perfectly normal, but we have to learn how to deal.
Redditor Sir_Baconstrips wanted to see who was willing to discuss actions made while randy, so they asked:
"What's the biggest mistake you've made because you were horny?"
I can't tell you mine, because my mom might read this. But Reddit was more than happy to share.
History Help
"I browsed porn and then I asked my mom how to delete the history."
Ramon80589
What was that?
"Probably my most embarrassing moment. Was on my work computer (family business so nothing locked) and it was a super slow day and I was alone. Anyways was doing a classic 3 min facebook check and scrolled down for a second and saw the news post about Adriana Chechik injuring her back in a foam pool. Figured top comments on that would be golden. Read one funny one that said 'her and her scene with [performer I can’t remember] is still goat.'"
"Never heard of said performer so I got curious and google her. Of course photos never do justice, had to see the performance ya know? So I clicked a random video, quick glance and thought 'meh' and was about to close the tab before I noticed my mouse twitch on the screen… What was that? No.. that wasn’t mouse error, that was someone… then within seconds I realized the accountant who taps in remotely to finish work came in at that exact moment that I had a browser open for less than 60 sec."
"The worst wart was I could have sworn I had all those remote services off, but she tried to tap in for over an hour and must of did something to wake splashtop (probably had it on some type of standby mode). She even called earlier but I saw a random number and was speaking with a client and ignored it."
"Anyways, decision time, do I call her and play it off as nothing or apologize? Naturally as a fearful 28 year old I play off as nothing. I call, no answer… then a few minutes later i get the call back and her words after exchanging 'hellos … are you finished with whatever you were doing…' still burns me."
Satmatzi
Years Later
"Let my (ex) boyfriend dry-hump me for an hour on a bench outside after summer school."
"The bad news: this bench behind our school was also beside a swimming pool. Where parents were taking their children for swim lessons. Eventually a staff member came out and yelled at us for being inappropriate."
"I still have shame flashbacks today, over 10 years later."
hannlouiseols
Size Issues
"I had a one night stand with a guy who was, in retrospect, seriously self-conscious about his penis size and kept going on about how if it was on the small size it was just because he has to have sex with it a few times and it would gradually get bigger until it was it’s 'true' size. I really didn’t care."
"But then to make himself feel better he turned it around and started talking about how big and wide my vagina was but kept reassuring me that it was ok because he liked the challenge. I wish I had snapped my legs shut and given him the boot right then and there."
bewarethes0ckm0nster
In San Diego
"Lost my entire tax refund and got my phone stolen at a strip club in San Diego."
BigFatPapaBear
Always check your pockets on the way out.
The Reward
"Hooked up with a girl at a party. Just kind of bored, drunk, and horny. Having to go to the doctor for a case of pubic lice was my reward for poor self-control."
No_External7289
Dedicated...
"I got my first serious gf in high school. She was two grades below me. So when I finished third year and moved 500 km south we was still a couple. I was so in love (and most of all horny) I commuted every. Single. Weekend. And I was poor. So I took the bus to the nearest station after school. Waited for the long distance bus for 4-5 hours."
"Went to a larger city to hitchhike my way there. I was there Friday night or Saturday morning. Locked ourselves in her bedroom and went at it until Sunday morning. I made my way down to school again and went to class straight from the bus Monday morning. This went on for almost a year…"
pelo_ensortijado
I'm Out
"Was trying to get with a girl in college. We were texting and I asked her what she was up to, she said she was training for a marathon and going to the gym and asked if I wanted to come."
"I ended up running 9 miles before I tagged out. So now I know how far I'd go to have sex it's up to 9 miles."
euesquecimeunome
Lord the things people will do when slightly turned on.
People Who Accidentally Sent A Family Member A Nude Picture Describe The Aftermath
Why in this day and age are people still taking nudie pics without triple-checking the recipient?
Why take the gamble?
And half of the time we hit send, mistakes get made.
One minute you're feeling sexy, the next minute grandpa is having a stroke.
Be careful.
Redditor Im_A_Freakin_Joke wanted to hear about the times people have sent photos to the family that left everyone SHOOK, so they asked:
"Redditors who accidental sent a family member a nude, what was the aftermath?"
I have done many things, but I never allow a snapshot.
Gross
"'You should clean your room before you take that.'"
Emergency_faceplant
What's What?!
"I meant to send it to someone on WhatsApp that I was dating at the time and didn’t realize I accidentally sent it to my brother, their names were next to each other in my chat list and I chose the wrong one. I frantically called my sister in law and told her what happened and begged her to go into his phone and delete the message with the photo."
"This is before WhatsApp added the functionality to delete your own messages. She was so sweet and understanding and deleted the message. I was so embarrassed. To this day she has kept my secret, this happened five years ago."
room_temp_butter
Bad Pics
"For context, my mom had some life-threatening medical issues when I was a kid, so there were a few month+ long periods where we rarely saw her. One night, I got a text from her that says 'send me a pic of u in bed."
"I thought she wanted a picture of me and my dog snuggling, as he slept with me and was the cutest sleeper. I usually sent her one every few days, even when she was home. It also doubled as her way to make sure I was following my bedtime."
"I was taking the picture, and I get a follow-up 'ignore that' text. At the same time, my dad opens my door so hard the hinges break. He says 'you get a text from mama?' I say yeah, and he says, 'it wasn't meant for you.' And leaves. I felt weird about it for days, even though it was years before I figured it out."
bleeding_inkheart
Leave it there...
"I happened to live across the street at the time and a dirty message meant for my now wife was sent to my mother! Luckily for me my mom is notorious for ignoring her phone so I sprinted across the street and said 'hey where is your phone' she told me it was on her desk so I calmly walked over unlocked it and deleted the message. In response to the look of confusion I told her 'deleted a message that was meant for now wife...' And left it at that."
Twandle_D-Vorago
AHHHH!!!! NO!
"One time my dad accidentally texted me 'sex if the Patriots win' and I still don’t believe I have recovered."
ayepeyday
Mom and dad have their own lives.
Disconnect
"I didn't accidentally send a nude, but my phone did auto upload ALL my pictures when I connected it to my mom's computer. I'm no longer allowed to connect hardware to my mom's computer."
teethalarm
Hey Sis...
"I gave my sister my old Iphone (I’m 25, she’s 22). She didn’t realize that her photos were uploading to my cloud and when I went to send a photo to a coworker, at work mind you, I see her pasty a**. I immediately text her and was like STOP TAKING PHOTOS. She called me and asked if I was okay and I told her what was happening. She responded with 'My a** look good though,' and I died laughing. Love my sis, but Christ."
PushingPepperoni
Shower Scene
"I didn’t sent a nude. I was in the shower, about age 15, and I heard the phone ring. My best friend had a habit of calling while I was showering. So, I bolted out naked as the day I was born to grab the phone before she hung up. I didn’t realize pretty much my entire dad’s side of the family was visiting my terminally ill mother."
"They saw it all. My aunt jokingly said, 'Well, dang, I didn’t know there was gonna be a show.' And someone said, 'we were just joking when we said you’d grow up to be a stripper.' I had to do a walk of shame back to the bathroom as well."
"It was laughed off and it hasn’t been brought up since."
TheSaltyMelon
Let me see...
"Sent a pic of my boobs to my mom. Managed to convince her I was trying to take a pic of what I thought was a lump but ended up dropping my phone and sent it while fumbling. Which has happened before. But then she made me show her where I thought the lump was so that was very awkward."
3milyBlazze
Recover Mode
"I once sent a pic to a GF in college when we were home for break… only I searched her contact by last name and accidentally sent it to her mom!"
"Thankfully it was late and she was able to sneak into her parents’ room and delete it before they saw."
BleekerTheBard
What have we learned?
At the very least, triple-check who you are sending it to one whichever app you use for that sort of thing.
People Share The Things They Learned Embarrassingly Late In Life
There is so much to learn in the world, it's impossible for one person to know absolutely everything there is to know.
But there are certain things, like common phrases and idioms, that everyone seems to use that might be a little embarrassing to not understand until later in life.
Redditor Curious-2577 asked:
"What's something you learned 'embarrassingly late' in life?"
Addictive Personality
"My sister was in her fifties when she found out the meaning of, 'You have an addictive personality.'"
"She thought after all these years of therapy that it meant that people were addicted to her personality."
"We laughed hysterically when we talked about this (in a very sad way)."
- casper02127
Horse Toes
"I thought that horses had toes until I was 22. I thought the hoof was a 'horseshoe' and the toes were tucked inside."
"How did I learn how wrong I was, you ask?"
"I was walking past a cavalry museum and saw a horse statue and loudly remarked, 'It must hurt so bad when they fold a horse’s toes to put them into the shoe!'"
"Dozens of horse enthusiasts turned and looked at me with wild bewilderment in their eyes."
- BronNatsPulisic
Referencing Flowers
"The saying is, in fact, 'Nip it in the bud' and not 'Nip it in the butt.'"
- too_sharp
Pastures New
"A few months ago, two of my colleagues both handed in their notice at around the same time."
"I kept reading/hearing the sentence, 'They’re both moving on to pastures new’ being thrown about the office in the weeks leading up to them leaving, and I hadn’t heard this phrase before and thought that was the name of the rival company that they were going to, like, 'Pastures New.'"
"I thought it was weird that nobody was talking about how they were both leaving for the same company."
"I was in the car with one of the two people who were leaving and said, 'So where is it that you and X are going to be working? Is it...’"
"And just before I could embarrass myself and say ‘Pastures New,' they interrupted me and said they’re not going to the same place and asked me where I had heard that."
"I think at that moment, I realized I was stupid and didn’t mention it again."
- WorriedSoft
Mario Brothers
"I think I was in college when I realized that Mario and Luigi are plumbers. I thought they just went and up down these tubes just because that was the theme of the game."
- dontbemystalker
Bonsai Trees
"That Bonsai are not a species of tree, but a way to grow them. Any tree can be a bonsai."
- ixent
Houston, We Have a Problem
"Houston is not the name of the guy astronauts talk to."
- vienna_versailles
Cowboy Beans
"I learned that pork and beans are not called 'cowboy beans.' I was 18 and asked a grocery store clerk to help me find the 'cowboy beans.'"
"We were looking everywhere and I was getting frustrated because I know that every store carries these beans. After a while, I picked up a pork and beans can with a picture and said, 'See, they look just like this!'"
"He said, 'You mean pork and beans?'"
"Then I realized that my mom called them that so that I would eat them."
"The look of disappointment from that grocery store clerk haunts me to this day."
- whyunoletmepost
The Pulitzer
"Let me tell you about how I thought you were awarded a 'Pullet Surprise.'"
- BendyBrains
Rum and Coke
"Not too late in life, but I thought my parents were making 'Roman Cokes' until I went to college."
"Which, I think is a much better name for the drink (Rum and Coke) anyway."
- Th3seViolentDelights
Oh No, Not Acoma!
"That a coma was 'A' coma. Until I was probably 19 or so, I thought it was 'acoma.'"
"I thought you fell into acoma."
- FightWithBrickWalls
It Must Have Been a One-Way Trip
"My parents were divorced the whole time and my mom was not, in fact, taking a vacation, lmao (laughing my a** off)."
- artemus_who
Multitasking
"I live near the Hospital for Joint Diseases… when I was a kid, I thought was a special hospital for people who had two or more different diseases at the same time."
- Baffhy_Duck
Ore-Ida Fries
"Moving cross-country, driving east to west, and crossing from Idaho to Oregon, I noticed huge fields with signs for the Ore-Ida Potato company."
"So I was in my early 20s when I figured out Ore-Ida wasn’t just a brand name but was because their potatoes came from Oregon and Idaho."
- Deadhawk142
Kid Logic
"When I was really young, my sister told me she threw her guts up. So I was really afraid of vomiting my entire insides up for years."
- Presitigious_Sweet_50
Some of these really had us laughing as we realized the revelations some of these Redditors were having.
But when we're really honest with ourselves, we probably didn't figure out some of these until later, too.
People Break Down The Absolute Worst Parts About Having A Child
While starting a family and having children is a goal that many people have, some do not realize that it's not easy, fun, and loving one-hundred percent of the time. Rather, it's expensive, exhausting, and hard, though it might be worth it in the end.
With this in mind, people shared what they felt were the hardest hurdles of their parenting.
Redditor ApprehensiveShock655 asked:
"What's the worst part of having a child?"
Fear of Not Doing Enough
"The constant anxiety that you’re doing enough to shape them to make good choices, a good life, be a good person and for them to have the life they deserve."
- nakedreturnsthe1st
Like the Energizer Bunny
"It's incessant. It never stops. You never get a day off."
"Going from having two days per week to relax and do whatever to literally never having a moment free from responsibility."
- mrbuh
No Break In Sight
"I’ve always wanted kids and still do, but this is the only thing that has come close to giving me pause."
"Both my siblings have young kids and I cannot get over how CONSTANT it is."
"From the second the kids wake up to when they finally shut their eyes, it’s non-stop. Then they get maybe an hour or two to themselves, which is mostly spent tidying up, etc., before the nighttime stuff starts with the baby crying, the toddler coming into bed, nightmares, etc."
"It requires years of not getting a full night's rest. You can never just go out whenever you want. No sleeping in, even on weekends because someone has to be up with them at 6 AM."
"Raising human children is an insane task."
- GirlisNo1
Mom's Body After Baby and Dad Bods
"The weight gain is the worst! During the pregnancy, I gained 35 pounds. My belly has stretch marks. My boobs are all saggy."
"And it’s not even fair because my wife only gained like 15."
- Wise-Reaction-7526
The Meal Planning
"Coming up with three meals to eat per day EVERY DAY stresses me out so bad."
"This sounds like such a small thing, but it really wears on you over time. You can’t just make something for yourself or something you and your spouse feel like eating: You have to constantly be thinking about if the kid is hungry and what they might be willing to eat."
- Ravenclaw79
Keeping Them Safe
"When people ask me this I say, 'do you know those video games where you have to escort a character to a destination without them being attacked?' That's parenting. Those missions are a pain in the a**."
- Infiniski_Gaming
Seriously, Keep Them Safe
"Having to deal with their total lack of self-preservation. They are creative and come up with all kinds of ways to try and kill themselves. Keeping ahead of the game is exhausting."
- Quizzical_Chimp
Constant Contact
"They’re just always there. On you, behind you, in front of you, just a little speed bump impeding every task."
- Tangboy500000
Letting Them Live Their Life Their Way
"Having a kid is like having a little piece of your heart running around in the world. When they're sick or get disappointed or just feel sad, it's worse than having it happen to you."
"Yet at the same time, you need to let your kids work through those things to learn to handle them. If you give into the worry and try to shield them from everything, you risk creating harmful co-dependence."
"So it's a constant struggle. But worth it!"
- um_chili
What Is "Sleep" Again?
"I'm only nine years in, but so far, it's been the sleep deprivation. Hands down."
- tessiegamgee
And What Are These "Sick Days" You Speak Of?
"Having to take care of a sick child when you are also sick. For me that has been the most challenging part so far."
- MrsLouisaMercury
Another Full-Time Job
"It's like taking a second job that lasts 18+ years with a 24/7 schedule with no holidays or sick days."
"…And no second paycheck. It's actually like YOU are paying your second salary instead of getting one."
- mouse_rat
Personal Freedom
"The loss of freedom. I can't just... go somewhere. Even with older kids, there's so much planning and thinking and getting ready."
"I miss being able to just decide to go somewhere, and go there."
- poetris
The Time Flies
"The best advice I got was from an ancient hospital security guard in an elevator. 'The days are long, the years are short, cherish them while you can.'"
- WayOfTheHouseHusband
So Unexpected
"The phrase I hate is, 'You don't know it, but one day you pick your kid up for the last time.'"
- 3_pac
There are all kinds of troubles that come from being a parent, many of which people don't necessarily think about until they already have a baby in the house.
But reassuringly, many people in the subReddit pointed out that no matter how hard some of these hurdles are to get over, it's still worth it in the end, and it goes by far too fast.